Improvement in spring-power repeating f



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..l

JOHN GORDON, OF NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN SPRING-POWER REPEATINGFlRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 72,844, dated December31, 1867.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN GORDON, of the city and county of New London,of the State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Fire-Arms; and dohereby declare the same to be fully described in thefollowing specification and represented in the accompanying drawings, ofwhich- Figures l and 2 are side views of my invention as applied to thebreech ot' a revolver re-arm. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of thesame. Fig. 4 isa transverse section taken through the shaft of thewinding-barrel and mechanism connected therewith.

The object of my invention is to raise the hammer to cock by amechanical power separate from the trigger. v

I am aware that in revolvers the hammer has been raised to cock bymarinai power applied through the trigger. In my invention, however, thetrigger in no respect operates to effect the elevation of the hammer bymanual power exerted on the trigger, but is employed in the usual way toeffect the discharge ,or depression of the hammer by means of itsspring.

In the case of application of my invention to a revolver its hammer maybe supposed to have a pawl or mechanism applied to it for effecting bymeans ot' a ratchet the intermittent revolution of the rotary magazineor cylinder, such pawlor mechanism being exhibited in dotted lines at ain Fig. 3.

In the drawings, A denotes the cock or hammer, and B the stock, of arevolver-gun, the spindle ot' thc cylinder or magazine being shown at b.The trigger is seen at c. The mainspring for throwing the hammer down isexhibited at d.

Within the stock B, I arrange a pulley or wheel, C, to revolve on anarbor, c. A spiral spring, f, contained within the wheel C andencompassing the arbor, has one end atlixed to the arbor and the otherto the rim ofthe pulley. Furthermore, there is on the arbor a ratchet,g, which operates with a click, h, pressed up to the periphery of theratchet by a spring, i, the same being as shown in Fig. 2. By applying akey to the pyramidal head or part 7c of the arbor and turning thearborthe spring may be wound up to such a degree of tension as may bedesirable.

To the periphery of the wheel C a cord, l, is

attached at one of its ends, such cord being carried around suchperiphery several times and attached at its other end to thecircumference ofanother wheel, D, fixed upon another or winding-arbor,m, such arbor being arranged in the stock in manner as represented.There revolves on such arbor an escapement-ratchet, E, formed as shownin side views in Figs. 5 and G-that is to say, it has two shoulders, oo, on its circumference, and a range, p, of teeth formed on its outerside and close to its circurnferenee. From its inner side two studs orpins, ql", projeettoward the wheel D. They are to operate with a hookedpawl or arm, s, which is arranged between the wheel D and the ratchet E,is jointed to the hammer or cock A, and is formed as represented.

Aside of the rotary escapement-ratchet E is another or auxiliaryratchet, F, which is xed on the arbor m., so as to revolve with it. Aclick, t, supported on a stud, u,projectingfrom the ratchet E, engageswith the ratchet F, and is pressed up to the periphery by a spring, n,xed to the side of the ratchet E.

Two lever-pawls, Cr H, supported on fulcra w w, are arranged withrespect to the ratchet E and the mainspring d, in manner as exhibited inFig. 1. The first of these pawls-viz., that marked Gr-has its lower armconnected to the lower end of the trigger by a rod, x, which is jointedboth to the p'awl and the trigger. The other lever-pawl, H, has its reararm restingagainst a spring', c, by whose action the pawl will bepressed against theescapement-ratchet.

A spring, y, fixed to the stock and resting on the hooked pawl s,servesto press such pawl downward. Aspring-elick,z, xed to the innerface of one of the arbor-supporters a b', opcrates with the range p ofteeth of the escapement-ratchet E, and serves to prevent back motion ofsuch ratchet while the arbor m is in the act ot` being revolved so as-to wind up the cord Z 011 the wheel D for the purpose ot' contractingthe spring within the wheel C. It', now, we suppose a key to be appliedto the arbor m, and such arbor to be thereby revolved in the directionofthe arrow c2, so as to wind up the cord on the wheel D and unwind itfrom the wheel C, the eseapementratchet E will be stationary during thesaid winding process; but the moment the arbor is relieved from powerexerted to revolve it it will rotate the escapement-wheel so as to carryone of its studs q' ragainst the shoulder of the hook of the pawl s anddraw such pawl back, r'so as to cause it to raise the hammer A tofull-cock. On the hammer being so raised the escapement-ratchet willbring up against and be estopped by the lever-pawl H. On the triggerbeing pulled backward the spring d by its superior elastic force willact against the longer arm of the lever-pawl H and throw the pawl out ofengagement with the escapement-ratchet, the hammer willbe thrown downupon the nipple, and the other lever-pawl, G, will be thrown intoengagement with the escapementmatchet, so as to catch and hold it afterits partial revolution forward, occasioned by the draft ofthe hookedpawl s upon it. The so catching the escapementratchet by thepawl G willcause the wheel to be estoppcd. On allowing the trigger to be advancedby its usual restoring-spring (shown at 0') the pawl G will be thrownout ot engagement with the escapement-wheel, which will instantly berevolved by the power ofthe spring in the wheel C, andthe hammer willbedrawn back to cock, the escapement-wheel bringing up against and beingestopped by the pawl-lever H.

From the above it will be seen that the automatic mechanism for cookingthe hammer will perform this function instantly after the hammer mayhave been thrown down by its spring, and thus the holder or user ot' therepeatin g tire-arm or revolver will not be obliged to cock the hammerby his hand preparatory to each discharge of it. Thus his wholeattention may be directed to aiming and ring his piece. The cooking ofthe hammer will also cause the charge-cylinder to be revolved so as tobring a fresh charge up to the barrel.

I do not claim the combination of the trigger and hammer of a re-armwith a mechanism by which, by manual power exerted through the trigger,the hammer may be raised or cocked preparatory to being discharged. Nordo I claim as my invention ther combination ot' the trigger, the hammer,and a mechanism as described, (or its eqnivalent,) which, by the powerof a spring or its mechanical equivalent, shall e'ect the elevation ofthe hammer after each pull on the trigger, as specified, the hammerbeing depressed by its mainspring, as set forth.

Whatl do claim as my invention is- The combination as well as thearrangement ot' parts for ell'ecting the retraction ofthe hammer after apull on the trigger, such consisting of the springf and its wheel C, thecordl and winding-wheelD, or the equivalent thereof, the hooked pawl s,the escapement-wheel E and its click t and ratchet F, and the leverpawlsG H, applied to the trigger A and the mainspring d, as set forth.

JOHN GORDON.

Vitnesses:

R. H. EDDY, F. P. HALE, Jr.

